Reuters World News - War powers vote, Iran ship, NATO and Anthropic

Episode Date: March 5, 2026

The U.S. Senate votes down a resolution to limit President Donald Trump’s authority over the Iran war. Iran says the U.S. will "bitterly regret" torpedoing an Iranian navy ship in the Indo‑Pacific, killing dozens. A missile launched from Iran is intercepted over Turkey, raising questions about NATO's role. The Pentagon threatens to label Anthropic a “supply chain risk” amid a widening fight over military use of AI. Plus, the U.S. wants to accelerate weapons production. Find the recommended read here. Listen to the Morning Bid podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, I'm Kim Vinal in Wanganui, New Zealand. It's Thursday, March 5th. Today, the Senate fails to limit Trump's war powers. The Iran War widens as the US torpedoes an Iranian Navy ship in the Indo-Pacific, and NATO member Turkey gets dragged into the conflict. And the Pentagon threatens to put Anthropic on a no-go list. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. First to the latest from Iran. Iran's revolutionary guards say they've hit a U.S. tanker in the northern part of the Gulf. According to Iranian state media, the tanker is now on fire. Stay tuned as we'll have more on the widening Iran conflict throughout the podcast. The U.S. Senate has voted down a move which would stop President Donald Trump from continuing the Iran war.

The resolution's aim was to require any military action first be authorized by Congress. The vote breaking along party lines with a majority of Democrats in favor, while most Republicans opposed. Republicans like Senator Roger Wicker from Mississippi. The president understands the weight of war. he was clear out about the risk and he was honest with the American people. And in the House, supporters of the bill, like minority leader Hakeem Jeffries,

said it was about Congress reclaiming its constitutional role. He has hurt us again and again, failed us again and again. And now by launching this unauthorized war of choice, setting fire to our Constitution. The Iran, war is now spilling over into other parts of the world. In the Indo-Pacific, a truck carrying bodies of dozens of Iranian sailors arrives at a morgue in Sri Lanka. A US submarine torpedoed

their navy ship off the coast of the island, killing at least 80 people in international waters. Iran says the US will bitterly regret sinking the ship. And in Hatai, in the south of NATO member Turkey, authorities fish the remnants of a NATO air defense missile from a pond which had intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran. It's an attack that raises the question, could NATO get dragged in to the war? Here to unpack it is Reuters Foreign Policy Editor Don Dherfi. It's starting to look more like a regional war, which is what makes. experts had warned might happen if there were to be an attack on Iran. Don says for Iran, this attempt to stretch the war beyond its borders is deliberate.

I think part of their motivation is that if you can bring the conflict to other countries in the region, including now Turkey, which is a NATO member, that you can create enough chaos that that puts some pressure on the U.S. and Israel. Maybe it creates some political consequences for Donald Trump back at home, such that it affects U.S. decisions on the war. Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, appears to be attempting to calm the situation after that Iranian missile was intercepted.

Warning against any repetitions. But Don says it would likely take much more than that for Turkey to invoke Article 5 and drag NATO into this war. That is the collective defense clause, which sets out that an attack on one NATO member is an attack against all of them. And he says there are a number of other developments to be watching out for, including where the ground forces try to enter Iran from neighboring countries,

like the Iranian Kurds. Reuters reports the CIA has been consulting with some Iranian Kurdish militias, a coalition of fighters based in the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region on the Iraq-Iran border. We don't know what the U.S. involvement would be in that, but what sources have told us is that the intent would be for the Kurds to enter Western Iran, attack security forces, effectively with the idea of drawing some of Iran's military to fight them and potentially open some space for those who oppose the Iranian government to rise up and be a little bit more protected because there's a loss of a military threat against them. Big tech companies are rallying to defend AI startup Anthropic in its fight with the Pentagon.

You may have heard in recent days, Anthropic is saying it won't allow its AI to be used for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons in the US. Well, the Pentagon hit back with apparent plans to label the company a supply chain risk. Some investors, including big. names like Amazon fear that could tank the company. Reuters technology correspondent Jeffrey Daston explains what consequences a supply chain risk label comes with. This particular designation essentially says no Pentagon contractor can use Anthropics

AI in their work for the Pentagon. And in fact, the secretary of the Pentagon, Pete Hedsect actually said he wanted to go beyond that. No Pentagon contractor can use Anthropic at all, even if this is not for the Pentagon's work. So that would spell an enormous potential impact to Anthropics sales because there are tens of thousands of defense contractors in the United States, among them, Amazon, Microsoft, Lockheed Martin, large major public companies. Jeffrey says this fight is happening at a sensitive moment with the U.S. and Israel at war with Iran. Anthropics AI was the first such technology to be running on classified systems in the government, in the Pentagon.

And that means that there already has been work underway to have Anthropics AI used for key intelligence analysis in major theaters abroad. So you could imagine Iran. You could imagine Venezuela. We don't know exactly where, if anywhere, Anthropics AI has been used for. these major conflicts. But essentially, the Pentagon is pumping the brakes on a very important tool in a very critical moment for the country in this operation in Iran. Iranian drones and missiles have brought shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to a near halt, choking off a fifth of the world's oil and gas and sending energy prices soaring.

While Iran's missile stockpile may be limited, Intelligent sources say the country can produce up to 10,000 drones per month enough to sustain the disruption for months. And if those run out, analysts warn Iran could deploy thousands of sea mines, prolonging the crisis even further. For more on oil prices and other econ news, tune in to our sister markets podcast MorningBid, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Intelligence sources say the Islamic Republic's missile supplies may be running low. On the U.S. side, President Trump says Washington has a, quote, virtually unlimited supply of munitions and that wars can be fought forever with its existing supply. That's despite administration officials preparing for a meeting tomorrow with defense contractors to discuss how to accelerate weapons production and replenish stocks. reporter Mike Stone covers the defense industry and says that meeting was in the works for a while. The United States has been working for months to get munitions makers, long-range missile makers, to step up production as the United States prepares its arsenal for a potential protracted fight with China.

So the Friday meeting is essentially unrelated to the Iraq. conflict other than with the expenditure of munitions in Iran, magazine depth becomes a top-of-mind thought for the president, and that's what's happening. And Iran is causing both sides to go through their so-called magazine depth or ammunition stockpiles with the widespread use of cheap drones. So just fire these $40,000 delta wing sort of lawnmower engine drones at the other one, and the other side has to shoot it down using something because it'll blow up. and imposing that cost of using a $4,5 million patriot interceptor to shoot down a $40,000

Shahid drone. And this is a part of a rapid effort within the Pentagon to try and look at the lessons learned from the Ukraine war where the Russians are using Lancet, you know, loitering munition, where it just sort of flies around, picks its right moment, and then hits its target. It's very useful. The Pentagon and White House do not immediately respond to requests for comment. For a recommended read today, we have dropped a link to a series of photos showing scenes from inside Tehran. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app.

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